Income
in Malaysia not taxable in India: SCNew Delhi, May 31The Supreme Court has held that
under the Double Taxation Avoidance Treaty between India and Malaysia,
any income earned by an Indian from his enterprise in that country and
the capital gains on the property cannot be taxed in India.

Bear
hug squeezes small playersSensex slips 76 pointsMumbai, May 31The markets are unimpressed by
Finance Minister P. Chidambaram’s efforts to talk up the Sensex and
small investors received yet another mauling from the bears on Monday.

New Delhi, May 31Telecom Regulatory Authority of
India (TRAI) today released a consultation paper on pricing,
allocation and utilisation of spectrum (wavelengths and frequencies)
by cellular operators, inviting comments by June 30.

Loans
for study’s sakeChandigarh, May 31Students can now plan and think
big when it comes to pursuing further studies both in India and
abroad. The dream of their parents to see them study in good technical
institutes within the country or seek admission in reputed
universities abroad for higher studies can also come true with more
and more banks and financial institutions offering cheap, hassle-free
education loans.

New Delhi, May 31The Income Tax Department will
start online tax accounting system for companies tomorrow to enable
them pay tax and get accurate credit for their payments easily and
without much time consuming. According to an official press release,
the new system will enable the Income Tax Department to monitor tax
collections on a day-to-day basis.

Chandigarh, May 31Haryana Agro Research and
Development Centre, affiliated to the Haryana Agro Industries
Corporation, will set up a modern hi-tech farm at village Kisanpura in
Jind district over an area of 85 acres to grow vegetables, fruits,
cash crops and medicinal plants by adopting latest technologies?

That’s
IT

Linux server market
grows
New Delhi, May 31Growing for the fourth
consecutive quarter, worldwide server market revenues grew 7.3 per
cent year-on-year in January-March of 2004 to $ 11.5 billion with
highest growth witnessed in the Linux server sales, according to IDC.

Alliance Semiconductor

Opus Software

Infosys gets ISO 14001

Corporate
news

M&M profit
rises 200 pcMumbai, May 31Mahindra & Mahindra has
posted a net profit of Rs 145.63 crore for the quarter-ended March 31,
2004, as compared to Rs 48.67 crore for the quarter-ended March 31,
2003, an increase of 199.21 per cent.

New Delhi, May 31
The Supreme Court has held that under the Double Taxation Avoidance Treaty (DTAT) between India and Malaysia, any income earned by an Indian from his enterprise in that country and the capital gains on the property cannot be taxed in India.

A Bench of Chief Justice S. Rajendra Babu and Mr Justice G. P. Mathur also held that the capital gains should be taxable only in the country in which the assets were situated.

The Bench, thereby, dismissed appeals by the Commissioner of Income Tax, Chennai.

The appeals were against a judgement of the Madras High Court which upheld the decision of the tribunal court that since P. V. A. L. Kulandagan Chettiar, the respondent, had no permanent business establishment in India, his business income from rubber plantations in Malaysia could not be included in his income in India.

The tribunal also held that as the property was situated in Malaysia, capital gains could not be taxed in India. The Supreme Court in its judgement said business income out of rubber plantation could not be taxed in India because of close economic relations between the assessee and Malaysia in which the property was located and where the permanent establishment had been set up would determine the fiscal domicile.

“Taxation policy is within the power of the government and Section 90 of the Income Tax Act enables the government to formulate its policy through treaties entered into by it and even such agreement treats the fiscal domicile in one state or the other and thus prevails over the other provisions of the Act,” the court said.

Section 90 lays down that where the Indian Government has entered into an agreement with another country for granting relief on tax, or avoidance of double taxation, the income tax provisions will apply to an assessee to the extent it was beneficial for him.

Mumbai, May 31
The markets are unimpressed by Finance Minister P. Chidambaram’s efforts to talk up the Sensex and small investors received yet another mauling from the bears on Monday. The Bombay Stock Exchange’s sensitive index fell 76 points as punters unimpressed by the ruling coalition’s Common Minimum Programme which aimed to halt privatisation of public sector undertakings continued to offload

stocks. After it became clear over the weekend that leftists might force amendments to the Electricity Act, 2003, to restrict private players, scrips of power-related companies plunged sharply.

The Sensex opened at 4,760, 75 points lower than the previous close before losing another point on Monday. Widespread selling across-the-board in early deals dragged the index below the 4,700-mark to an intra-day low of 4,665.

Worries of oil price hikes also hit auto shares. Tata Motors fell 5.22 per cent to Rs 367 while Maruti was down 4.42 per cent to Rs 387. According to observers here, Monday’s bear hammering was the handiwork of a few big players. Most of the small investors had already exited the market while the rest were waiting for an opportunity to quit at the earliest.

New Delhi, May 31
Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) today released a consultation paper on pricing, allocation and utilisation of spectrum (wavelengths and frequencies) by cellular operators, inviting comments by June 30.

In a press statement issued here today, the telecom regulator said the key issues for consultation include how much minimum spectrum should each existing operator be provided and should spectrum be allocated in a service and technology neutral manner at all?

In case of mergers and acquisitions, where the merged entity gets spectrum exceeding the spectrum cap, TRAI wants to know the stakeholders’ views on what should be the time frame in which the service provider be required to surrender the additional spectrum.

The regulator has sought comments on the amount of cap on the spectrum assigned to each operator and the procedure for spectrum allocation for areas where there is no scarcity and in areas where there is scarcity.

The consultation paper also deals with the competitive spectrum allocation procedure in cases where there is scarcity. The regulator said it has formulated a methodology to assess the spectrum utilisation efficiency of cellular networks.

Chandigarh, May 31
Students can now plan and think big when it comes to pursuing further studies both in India and abroad. The dream of their parents to see them study in good technical institutes within the country or seek admission in reputed universities abroad for higher studies can also come true with more and more banks and financial institutions offering cheap, hassle-free education loans.

Cashing in on the need for such loans after declaration of results, banks and financial institutions are these days busy putting up stalls in various schools and colleges to apprise the students of the terms and conditions for availing the benefit of these loans.

For instance, the State Bank of India offers loan worth Rs 7.5 lakh for education in India and Rs 15 lakh for pursuing higher studies abroad. The rate of interest for loan amount up to Rs 4 lakh is 10.50 per cent, while for amount more than that the interest rate is 11.5 per cent.

An official of the SBI said discounts were being offered on these loans to the outstanding and needy students whose parents' annual income was Rs 2.50 lakh per annum. Loans up to Rs 4 lakh were being made available to them at 2 per cent cheaper interest and that too for five years. The bank has accepted 1,718 education loans worth Rs 61.69 crore in the Chandigarh region during the previous fiscal year.

Similarly, Central Bank of India under its Students Plan is offering Rs 7.5 lakh as loan amount for studies in India and Rs 15 lakh for studies abroad. The rate of interest for loan amount up to Rs 4 lakh is 11 per cent, for 4-8 year it is 11.5 per cent and for 8-15 years the rate is 12 per cent.

Punjab National Bank has taken step forward in this
direction. The bank is charging 10.75 per cent rate of interest for loan amounts up to Rs 4 lakh. People in the age group of 16 to 40 years can take these loans.

Leading private sector banks like Bank of Punjab are offering loans worth Rs 50 lakh for educational purposes. Even these banks charge an interest rate of 11 per cent for loans up to Rs 4 lakh and 11.5 per cent for loans more than Rs 4 lakh. The bank has disbursed loans worth Rs 50 crore during the fiscal 2003-2004.

New Delhi, May 31
The proposed merger of IFCI with Punjab National Bank appears to have hit a legal roadblock and the new government may have to amend Companies Act to make it happen.

A merger of IFCI with a PSU bank will require amendments to the Companies Act, which allows transfer of the entire property or liability of a company to another company and not a bank. Since PNB is a bank, sources said the government has to amend Sections 394 and other sections of Companies Act for enabling the Delhi-based bank to acquire IFCI. A notification might have to be issued in this regard by the new government.

Moreover, government has to make provisions in the Income Tax Act to provide tax sops to PNB for offsetting the losses for making provisions for IFCI's non-performing assets now at over Rs 8,500 crore. Industrial Finance Corporation of India, which was set by an act of Parliament in 1948, was later corporatised in 1993 under the Companies Act.

PNB was incorporated under Companies Act in 1882 but came under the purview of Banking Companies (Acquisition and Transfer of Undertakings) Act of 1970 when government nationalised the bank.
— PTI

New Delhi, May 31
GAIL (India) Ltd will invest $ 2,03,000 more as equity in Shell Compressed Natural Gas Egypt (SCNGE) to fund capital expenditure in setting up more CNG stations in the African nation.

SCNGE plans to construct five more CNG fuelling stations and three conversion centres in 2004, company sources said. The expansion is based on the CNG growth projections, considering gas sales of 3.5 million standard cubic metres in 2003.

SCNGE expects to touch gas sales to 15 mmscm with 2,000 CNG vehicle conversions. In 2003, it could set up only one CNG station as against the planned three. The current
debt: equity ratio is 3:1 has to be maintained. — PTI

New Delhi, May 31
The Income Tax Department will start online tax accounting system for companies tomorrow to enable them pay tax and get accurate credit for their payments easily and without much time consuming. According to an official press release, the new system will enable the Income Tax Department to monitor tax collections on a day-to-day basis.

Under the online accounting system, tax payments from banks will reach the Tax Information Network of the government in two days instead of the present over 15 days.

The new system will be introduced throughout the country from June 1. It will also simplify procedures by reducing the number of challans to three from the present seven.

Chandigarh, May 31
Haryana Agro Research and Development Centre, affiliated to the Haryana Agro Industries Corporation (HAIC), will set up a modern hi-tech farm at village Kisanpura in Jind district over an area of 85 acres to grow vegetables, fruits, cash crops and medicinal plants by adopting latest technologies.

Stating this here today, a spokesman of the Centre said that inter-cropping pattern or multi-tier agriculture system would be adopted to grow medicinal plants in the space available between the tree-to-tree for better returns.

He said for providing healthy and disease-free seed and planting material to farmers, a tissue culture lab would also be established.

That’s IT

Linux server market grows

New Delhi, May 31
Growing for the fourth consecutive quarter, worldwide server market revenues grew 7.3 per cent year-on-year in January-March of 2004 to $ 11.5 billion with highest growth witnessed in the Linux server sales, according to
IDC.

The growth shows that demand for server systems is on a rise although seasonal variations caused first quarter revenues to be less than fourth quarter revenues, IDC said. In unit terms, server shipments grew 22.4 per cent year-on-year in first quarter of 2004.

As market for Unix servers declined three per cent in revenue, Linux server market grew 56 per cent year-on-year growth in revenue terms and 46.4 per cent in unit terms.

IDC says that Linux server revenues and shipments have shown double digit growth since second half of 2002. For the second quarter, Linux server revenues have posted above 900 million dollar in revenue nearing a billion dollar mark.

Windows server revenues grew 16.4 per cent to $ 3.8 billion and unit shipments grew 26.5 per cent in January-March 2004 as compared to last year. In revenue terms, Windows server had a market share of 32.7 per cent.

Among vendors IBM retained number one slot with market share increase of 2.3 per cent year-on-year to 29.7 per cent and revenues of $ 3.4 billion. Hewlett-Packard and Sun Microsystems were tied at the second spot with both losing 2.3 per cent market share to 10.2 per cent and clocking revenues of 1.17 billion in first quarter of 2004.

Alliance Semiconductor

American chipmaker Alliance Semiconductor Corporation today announced it would invest up to $ 50 million to expand its India design centres at Bangalore and Hyderabad over the next five years.

Alliance plans to double its engineering staff to 300 over the next three years and has already invested approximately $ 20 million, a company statement said.

“Alliance India’s competence in design and development at the forefront of mixed signal technology,
HyperTransport-based chip-to-chip interconnect technology and memory products helped us, in significant measure, to enhance our portfolio of products and technologies,” Alliance Chairman, CEO and President N. Damodar Reddy said.

Opus Software

Outbidding global software majors, Pune-based Opus Software Solutions Pvt Ltd. has bagged a $ 1.8 million contract from Wall Street’s largest stock broking company F-Ten Inc, under which the company will supply its financial software to the trading major.

Infosys Technologies Ltd today announced that it has been certified ISO 14001 compliant by Det Norske Veritas (DNV). The certification has been received for its
development centres in Pune, Chennai, Bangalore, Bhubaneshwar, Hyderabad, Mangalore and Mysore, a company statement said here.
— Agencies

Corporate news

M&M profit rises 200 pc

Mumbai, May 31
Mahindra & Mahindra has posted a net profit of Rs 145.63 crore for the quarter-ended March 31, 2004, as compared to Rs 48.67 crore for the quarter-ended March 31, 2003, an increase of 199.21 per cent.

Announcing the results, the company said its total income had increased from Rs 1,142.48 crore in the MQ-03 to Rs 1,545.04 crore in the quarter-ended March 31, 2004.

It had posted a net profit of Rs 348.54 crore for the year-ended March 31, 2004.

According to the consolidated results, the group had posted a balance of profit of Rs 451.12-crore for the year-ended March 31, 2004, as compared to Rs 216.17 crore for the year-ended March 31, 2003.

Bajaj Tempo

Bajaj Tempo has posted a higher net profit of Rs 44.21 crore for FY-04 as against Rs 32.17 crore in 2002-03. The board, at its meeting held on May 29, recommended a 70 per cent dividend for the year ended March 31, 2004, BTL said in a statement here today.

Price indexShimla, May 31
The Consumer Price Index number for Industrial Workers (base 1982-100) remained stationary at 504 during April 2004, Labour Bureau sources said. The index had risen by six points during April 2003. The point-to-point rate of inflation based on CPI-IW decreased from 3.49 per cent in March 2004 to 2.23 in April 2004.
— PTI

Howden BrokersNew Delhi, May 31
Howden Insurance Brokers, specialising in business critical insurance solutions, today announced the commencement of its India operations, following receipt of operative licence from the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority. Howden Insurance Brokers India Pvt Ltd (Howden India), which will operate as a composite insurance broker, will be based in Mumbai and will shortly expand to Delhi and Bangalore.
— UNI

Vijaya BankNew Delhi, May 31
Vijaya Bank is planning to open a full-fledged branch in Hong Kong and representative offices in UK, UAE, China and three other Asian countries. The Bangalore-based bank also plans to open representative offices in Britain, United Arab Emirates, Oman, Singapore, Thailand and South Korea. It also has plans to open an offshore banking unit in Mumbai’s special economic zone, the official said.
— PTI

Reliance EnergyMumbai, May 31
Reliance Energy Ltd is planning to buyback part of its equity shares from the market. The board would consider a proposal to buyback shares at its meeting scheduled on June 9, REL said in a release here today. The promoter group, including Reliance Power Ventures, holds 48.1 per cent stake in the power company as on March 31, 2004, according to shareholding data available with BSE.
— PTI

Union BankAmritsar May 31
The Assistant General Manager of Union Bank of India, Mr. V.K. Malhotra, today inaugurated online banking at their Majith Mandi Branch Office here. Talking to newspersons he said the bank is going to link all their 30 branches in major cities of the Punjab through Internet. The process for online banking is likely to completed by March next year.
— OC

PNB softwareNew Delhi, May 31
Punjab National Bank has developed two software to access loans proposals and prevent goods assets from becoming non-performing assets. The two software — Credit Rating Model (CRM) and Preventive Monitoring System (PMS) — were developed in-house and the bank has even obtained patent for the second one, a PNB release said.
— PTI